Brampton may require clowns to have a licence

Where's your licence sir?

In a precedent-setting move by city councillors, clowns, magicians, Santa Clauses and other children’s entertainers will soon need a licence to work in Brampton.
Brampton will be the first municipality in Canada to licence children’s entertainers if a new bylaw is given final approval.

In a precedent-setting move by city councillors, clowns, magicians, Santa Clauses and other children’s entertainers will soon need a licence to work in Brampton.
Brampton will be the first municipality in Canada to licence children’s entertainers if a new bylaw is given final approval.
City staff have been directed by councillors to draft a bylaw requiring an annual photo licence that would include a mandatory criminal background check for all entertainers who work with children. The cost of the license has not yet been determined, but a criminal record check costs approximately $45, and that would be in addition to the licensing fee.
The request for a draft bylaw, made by Committee of Council, will have to go to council for final approval next Wednesday. A public meeting would have to be held before any amendments could be officially made to the city’s licensing bylaw.
Despite a staff report strongly recommending against municipal licensing, politicians were persuaded by local activist Linda Beaudoin, who delegated committee Wednesday to urge councillors to regulate children’s entertainers in the hope that it will prevent pedophiles from taking such jobs.
No other municipality in Canada licenses children’s entertainers.
“Although there will be number of implementation challenges, including inconsistency in processes for Vulnerable Sector Checks among local police jurisdictions, the city is committed to developing and executing an effective licensing process,” the city stated in a news release Thursday.
It is unclear how wide sweeping the bylaw would be, and if it would also require volunteers to be licensed, or only those paid to perform. The potentially large scope of such a bylaw was one of three main issues city staff identified as posing problems for municipal licensing.
Who to license, the appropriate fee, and other details will have to be worked out by city staff in the development of the application process that will be presented to councillors some time in the future. City staff will also have to come up with a plan to get the word out that children’s entertainers will need a license if they want to work in Brampton.
“Brampton has been recognized as a global leader in community safety and this is yet another example of how seriously we take the safety of our citizens, young and old,” said Brampton Mayor Susan Fennell in the release. “I look forward to the staff report and working with my council colleagues to ensure we achieve just that.”
City staff had suggested upper levels of government should be responsible for licensing, but despite persistent lobbying, Beaudoin has been unsuccessful in persuading the provincial government to take up the issue. She has made a similar request to the City of Mississauga, Town of Caledon and City of Toronto. Toronto passed on the idea, but Mississauga and Caledon staff have not yet issued their reports.